The only thing I know is true
Is when I close my eyes at night
The only thing I see is you
And I believe that we can see it through
And I'm praying that you see it too

Joe Purdy – This Morning Blue

EPOV

"Edward, call me on the office phone. I can't talk on my cell here."

Rosalie gave me the number. I hang up and redial.

"Good morning, J. Walter, this is Rosalie."

"..."

"Edward?"

"...Yeah."

"What's the matter?"

"They placed you at J. Walter Thompson?"

"Yeah why?"

"On Lexington Avenue?"

"Yes, Edward. Why?"

"That's Victoria's agency."

"Shut up. ...Are you serious??"

"I think I'd know. I did work there after all. ...Have you seen her?"

"No, thank god. It's a giant company though. There's three hundred people in this building alone. She might be on another floor."

"Did you get dad's invitation?"

"To the benefit? Yeah. It came yesterday."

"He sent mine to Victoria's place," I sigh, running my fingers through my bedhead and standing in front of the open fridge door. "What an asshole."

"He didn't do it, Edward. Do you really think daddy sat at the dining room table and filled out two hundred invitations?" she chuckled quietly into the receiver. "His secretary, Irina, sent out the invitations."

"Well she invited me with Victoria as my guest," I hiss. "Her fucking name is printed on the place-card next to mine like we're-"

"...That's probably because she thinks you're still together. You have been since she started at daddy's office forever ago."

"And how'd she know your address? You've moved like twelve times since you got here," I snicker. All to be closer to Emmett, I might add, but I leave that comment to myself.

"You're hilarious, you know that. Maybe it's because I actually call home once in awhile and let people know where I am. And by the way I've only moved twice. I couldn't live in a hotel forever and I sure as shit wasn't moving in with you and Bella."

"Anyway," I dismiss her. " Are you bringing Emmett?"

She groans. "I guess so. I want to but they don't even know about him yet-"

"And what better time to introduce Doctor and Misses Cullen to their hunky, beefcake of a future son-in-law than at our father's benefit dinner for childhood leukemia? He can't very well cause a scene with hundreds of possible benefactors in attendance. How can they celebrate his achievements in cutting-edge development technology towards a cure if he's got Emmett in a headlock?"

"You're quite the comedian today. ....Besides, we're just seeing each other," she retorts in a low voice, shuffling papers around and trying to remain professional.

"Seeing each other naked, y'mean."

"Edward!" she gasps and then giggles in her windchime voice. "...Are you bringing Bella?"

"You know it," I crow. "They can suck it if they don't like it."

"I'm glad you're bringing her. She's good for you. …Hey did you know it's $5,000 a ticket? Isn't that insane? There's going to be raffles and an auction and all the proceeds are going to the laboratory that's opening in the new cancer wing at Cedars-Sinai. They're dedicating the wing to daddy, Edward...next month...in California. The Cullen Cancer Wing."

"Holy shit. I didn't know that. Sounds like a big deal."

"Indeed. ...Ok I gotta run. There's a delivery guy standing here staring at me. I'll call you later."

I hang up the phone and set it on the counter and decide to make breakfast for Bella. I didn't mean for our conversation to go all weird earlier. I just hate the fact that Victoria keeps showing up in our lives and making Bella all fucking insecure and shit. I need to do something drastic to make it clear to her that she's the only one I want, no matter how hard I'm being pushed in another direction by my father and his fucking secretary.

Only her. Only Bella. Never anyone else ever again for the rest of my life.

...the rest of my life.

I crack a few eggs from the carton labeled "Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs: Organically produced in the fresh air of the White Mountains of New Hampshire" into a bowl and scramble them with a fork. Where the fuck does she find this stuff? Organic hens? I chuckle to myself.

I know how it looks. Why would a proud, independent woman like Bella want to attend a stuffy event honoring my father if she wasn't invited? Especially when Victoria was. No matter what I say, she's going to feel inferior. She's going to feel like my father doesn't want her there. That he doesn't want us together.

Bella. Inferior. Ridiculous. She's the most unique being I have ever met, and she looked so sad when I told her; trying unsuccessfully to hide it behind that pretty mask of hers; those deep brown doe eyes. Jutting her chin out and smiling, pretending like it doesn't bother her.

Rose is right. Bella's good for me.

...too good.

She wants to know more about my father in the hopes of learning more about me. It must seem strange to her that our relationship is so volatile, at times so non-existent, when at the same time he's being honored by the prestigious upper echelon of the medical community.

What does she hope to discover? That from thirteen years old I did enough drugs, rebelled in every way possible, made myself sick, put myself in danger in various forms ranging from stealing Denny's dad's Harley and racing it down the main street of Forks in the middle of the afternoon without a helmet, to being dropped on the pavement outside the ER by Newton who fucking sped off after I took too many hits of acid in his basement and started carving a treasure map into my arm with a butter knife.....all in the hopes that my behavior would somehow make my dad want to be with me? He's a doctor. He fixes people. He finds cures. He saves lives. He was always talking about his "cases" and his "patients" with more love than he ever showed his "son". He was gone all of the time "helping people" and when he came home it was time for quiet, time for him to relax, not time for more problems, no more questions, only success. You do as you're told. You're a Cullen. It's what's expected. You're grandfather built his practice up from nothing through hard work and determination. He was an immigrant who fought to get an education and succeeded when the odds were stacked against him. The odds are in your favor, Edward, and I won't have you disgracing his name, his legacy, with anything less than perfection.

The problems of an average teenager, the class system that existed in every high school that isolated and divided winners from losers, the competition for girls and boys and grades. The homework. The hormones. These were the petty trivialities of an under-stimulated mind and he had patience for none of it.

Give your excuses to your mother. They'll do you no good with me.

There is no such thing as average in a successful world. That word does not exist in this house, Edward. Turn that music down.

Getting A's was nothing to be proud of. It was to be expected. So when I failed, I did it on purpose. Most kids had to work hard to get good grades. I worked hard to sabotage them.

Whatever it took to get his attention.

**

**

"What?"

"Huh?"

"What is it?"

"What is what?"

"You're giggling. What's so funny?"

"Am I? I didn't realize."

"Well you are. It's cute as hell but you're killing me here. What are you thinking?" I wrap my fingers around her slender wrist and pull her naked body flush to my side, swiping her damp, knotted hair from her face.

She's still catching her breath in shallow bursts and inhaling deeply as she traces circular patterns over my rib cage with the tips of her fingers.

"I'm thinking about what we just did, and how good it felt."

I can't see her face but I know she's blushing. I can feel the heat of her cheek against my skin.

"I'm thinking about how you make me feel things I didn't know possible, how you know my body better than I know it myself, better than anyone does. You touch me like you've been doing it for years and each time is like the first. You never fail to take my breath away with just one look, just one sweep of your finger over my skin. ...I'm thinking about how you satisfy me in every way imaginable; sexually, emotionally, intellectually and how, when I first met you, I thought you were untouchable, so much larger than life, but now, lying next to you...you're not that big."

"Gee thanks."

"No," she giggles again, kissing her way up my chest. "That's not what I mean. You're big where it counts, trust me. What I mean is...I thought you were so far out of my league, that I would never have a chance to be this way with you, like how we are now. There was so much of you that I wanted to get to know, mentally and physically, and every time I opened my mouth I sounded like an idiot. How could I ever be enough for you? I used to think...how could he ever feel the same way about me that I feel about him? And fucking look at you, Edward. You know you're gorgeous. You have to know. It's fucking intimidating. I couldn't even look at you without blushing."

"You still can't," I tease, rolling onto my side and grinding my hardness into her stomach. Her eyelids flutter shut and she bites down on her bottom lip.

"See what I mean? You're doing it again. You've been doing it every second since the moment we met."

"Doing what?"

"THAT. What you're doing right now?"

"Bella, I'm not doing anything. Look," I pull away to the edge of the bed. "There. I'm not even touching you."

"It doesn't matter," she pouts. "You're still doing it."

I groan loudly and roll back onto my back. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That makes it even sexier."

"You're making me paranoid. Can you please tell me what it is I'm doing?"

"I can't explain it."

"Try."

She exhales a long stream of air from her mouth and sucks it back in. "...You dazzle me, ok? That's what it is."

"I do? I don't even know what that means."

"Yeah? Well, good. Cuz I don't want it to ever change and if you know what you're doing then you might try to, I dunno, use it to your advantage or something...and it's so much hotter when you do it without realizing."

"Fine, baby. Whatever you say. I'll try to continue to dazzle you without knowing it." I press my lips to her forehead and run the backs of my fingers down her smooth neck. She moans softly under my touch and I have to stifle the urge to take her again right here right now. "...We should get ready. Cocktail hour starts at six."

BPOV

"Hey, where is this thing anyway? Is it going to be fancy?" I call out from the bathroom where I'm standing in bra and underwear and methodically removing my lip and tongue ring and limiting the amount of earrings to one small stud in each lobe.

"I think it's pretty safe to assume that it's going to be fancy," Edward answers from the bedroom. "It's at the Four Seasons."

I take a cleansing breath, that sounds posh, and ponder what to wear.

"Hey you don't have to do that," Edward says, coming up from behind in nothing but a pair of fuck-off-hot black boxer briefs. He wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on top of my head. Our reflection in the mirror makes my heart skip a beat. His intense jade-green eyes shine. His mass of unruly think bronze hair set against his flawless skin and stubble. His immaculate definition.

And then there's me. All weird angles and jagged edges. All awkward poses and distraction.

"Maybe. But I really should. I'm sure Four Seasons management has a limit on the amount of visible piercings and tattoos they'll allow in their ballrooms," I snort and roll my eyes.

He sighs and his minty breath wafts under my nostrils.

"I told you, Isabella, to be yourself. Your stunning self. You don't have to pretend you're someone you're not. This," he fingers a long strand of jet black bang that's framing my face and stops at my chin. "...is who you are. This is how I fell in love with you. Don't ever fucking change. Not for me, not for them, not for anyone."

Godfuckingdammit I love this man.

I turn in his arms and look up into his heavenly face. I appreciate that. I do. His words soothe me like a salve. But I'm not doing it for them. Or for him.

I'm doing it for me.

"I love you. And thank you for that. Your support means everything to me. But I never want to count on how I express myself externally to speak for who I am on the inside. These things I have done to myself," I tongue the hole under the ridge of my bottom lip left by my silver lip ring and run my hand over the tattoo on my hip."They're just extensions of the creative need to blow off steam. I don't regret them in the least, but I won't allow them to rule my life. That would defeat the purpose of why I put them there. I can't give them that much credit or allow their existence to have influence over my decisions."

There's a stony stunned silence left in the room after the echo of my last word dissipates, and the pressure of Edward's grasp around my waist increases.

"Fuck you, Isabella Swan," he growls, pulling me into the bedroom with force.

"Oh yeah?" I swallow, my heart racing with sudden excitement and arousal.

We stop at the edge of the bed and he whips me around, forcing me roughly into his arms, his breath staggered, his chest heaving. "You don't know what you do to me, do you? With simple words, you level me, you drive me crazy, you-" he cuts his sentence short with a tortured snarl and crashes his lips to mine, maddeningly precise, moaning, nipping, teeth gnashing, his hands tearing through my hair. He pulls back leaving us both breathless and repeats, with a smirk, "Fuck. You."

His eyes are dark, his pupils huge and I want him. He finds the back of my bra and deftly unlatches the clasp freeing my breasts. His hand follows his stare down my body and his thumbs graze my nipples. He squeezes. I hiss and the corner of his mouth lifts. He dips his fingers into the front of my panties, teasing my wetness and circling his thumb over my clit.

I stand on my tip-toes and brush my lips over his. "Prove it, Edward" I taunt. "fuck me."

"Is that a dare, Miss Swan?"

"Only if you want it to be, Mister Cullen."

He pushes me onto the mattress and I bounce to the center. I brace my weight on my arms and part my legs slightly. He's still standing at the edge, looking down at me with his fingers stretching at the elastic waistband of his boxers.

"Oh, I want it." he licks his lips and climbs up the mattress towards me. I squeal and scoot closer to the headboard just out of reach.

"Where do you think you're going?" He grabs my ankle and pulls me underneath him pinning me in place. He places a firm kiss in the center of my forehead and I hear him mutter, God I love you, against my skin. I push his boxers over his ass and shimmy them down his legs.

"Now that you've got me, what do you intend to do with me?" I squirm and wriggle, egging him on. "Tame me, Edward."

A low, feral growl bubbles up from his throat and without warning he's pushing inside me to the base of his long cock in one long swift motion. I gasp and clasp my ankles at the small of his back as he begins his powerful rhythmic thrusts. He pauses briefly when he's fully sheathed inside me to nuzzle into my face and neck. I giggle at his ability to be silly and tender while he's fucking me.

"So good, Bella, fuck you feel so fucking good. Can't get enough. It's never enough." He utters these short fragmented thoughts that I'm not sure he knows he's saying out loud but our eyes are locked together as our bodies rock as one and I lift my head from the pillow to press his lips to mine.

"I love you, Edward. You feel so good. Don't stop."

He shakes his head and I know he's trying to keep his orgasm at bay. Growling he lifts my leg to his shoulder and pumps into me. I yelp at the sensation of his hips flush with mine and the fullness of his length buried deep inside me.

"I'm close, oh god Edward, close," I moan, digging my nails into the back of his neck and getting off on the way his face winces in pain.

"I can feel you coming. Come for me, Bella. I won't come until you do," he swallows and nods his forehead against mine. I can see his stomach muscles clenching. The sight of our bodies connected, of his cock sliding in and out of my swollen heat, is enough to send me over the edge and I shudder.

He's clawing at the bedsheet on either side of me and I know he's ready. I lift my hips from the mattress to meet his final thrust. He grunts and curses and calls out my name as fills me with his warm seed. His liquid seeps between my legs and we lay in the stickiness of our bodily fluids and inhale the distinct smells of our sex...and it's pure uncensored bliss.

**

The cab lets us out on 57th and Park and the doorman holds the door open as we step out. Edward hands them both a pair of folded bills and the driver and the doorman nod in thanks.

"You look like a goddess," Edward whispers in my ear as he wraps his arm around my waist and guides me inside the impressive 52-story building. I'm wearing a Donna Karan dress that Alice bought me during her last visit to Greenwich because she "loves me and couldn't resist". I don't know where she got it or how much she paid. All I know is that it had the word 'couture' in it. It's charcoal sleeveless taffeta that gathers at the side with a bow and a deep v-back. I mixed it with a pair of metallic Jimmy Choo peep-toe platforms that I found on clearance the one time I went to Bloomingdales.

"This way, sir," the doorman gestures, holding open the large glass door that leads into the hotel lobby. As soon as we've entered we're greeted by a short, excitable man in a dapper suit bearing the Four Seasons emblem.

"Welcome to the Four Seasons, sir. Madam. I think you will find that we have any and all the amenities you could wish for to make your stay here as pleasurable as possible. We are three blocks from Central Park and within a half-mile radius of Carnegie Hall, Saks Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center...."

I look curiously at Edward as the round-faced man launches into his pitch and recitation of the hotels accommodations. Edward stands stoically and is listening politely as the man goes on and on about the 24-hour concierge service, full-service gym, state of the art entertainment system.... My attention drifts up towards the onyx ceiling overhead and the breathtaking pillars that are holding it up.

"We're here for the Cullen Gala," Edward finally says, breaking the trance of both myself and the chatty-Kathy.

"Ah yessss. Of course, sir. And you are?"

"Edward Cullen."

The stout man's beady eyes widen and his jaw slacks. "Oh my. Of course. Right this way. Please. Follow me. Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"

"You can show me directly to my parents. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen."

"Of course, sir. Right away."

He walks quickly and leads us down the grandiose corridors. Edward takes my hand in his and squeezes gently.

"Does he say anything but 'of course'?" I snicker into Edward's shoulder.

The corner of Edward's mouth turns up in a crooked smile and he shakes his head. "He knows better."

The sound of echoing voices and music and clinking of glasses and laughter grows louder as we turn a corner and head down another hallway. The lush carpeting under my feet makes walking in these heels a bit of a challenge but holding onto Edward's strong arm steadies me. He looks exquisite in his black Dolce and Gabbana suit, fitted perfectly to his perfect body, thin black tie, shined black shoes, crisp white shirt, mussed hair, just the right amount of stubble. He smells like Kiehl's herbal body wash and lotion and his own natural musky scent.

"The Gala is being held in the Cosmopolitan Suite, Mr. Cullen. The Hotel's largest event space." We stop at the end of the hall in front of floor to ceiling ornate double doors. Mr. Man grabs the knobs and shoves the doors open revealing the opulent banquet hall inside. I suck in a gasp as we enter the magnificent room and I'm immediately handed a glass of champagne from a white-gloved waiter.

"Thank you," I say.

"Ma'am."

Edward takes one as well as we weave our way through the tables. The carpet is taupe-colored, the walls are dark wood with onyx-inlay. The music is louder yet muffled by the voices filling the cavernous room.

The room fits around two hundred people and is filled to capacity. People are milling around with glasses in their hands. Each table is set with a lush flower arrangement and long, thin candle centerpieces.

At the very back of the room is a raised stage with a beautiful grand piano situated in the middle. Edward takes my hand and leads me towards it. There's a decent sized dancefloor in front of it and I have a better footing walking across it's slick surface.

"Your parents are in the side salon, Mr. Cullen." Our friendly tour guide points to a door off to the side. "Enjoy the evening, sir. Madam, you look stunning. Enjoy your evening." I smile and let him take my hand and suddenly I want him to take me with him, out of this room, out of this night. I feel lightheaded. I'm beginning to perspire. All at the thought of meeting Edward's parents in the very, very near future. I hadn't let myself think too much about it the week leading up to tonight, I figured I'd just stay glued to Edward's side or follow Rosalie around, but now I wish I had. I wished I'd prepared something clever and charming to say to them, I wish I practiced the firmness of my handshake.

"Edward," I croak, clutching his upper arm. "I..." Rosalie. Where's Rosalie? Why didn't we come with Rosalie? I can't do this.

"Bella? Are you alright? You're shaking?" Edward faces me and takes both of my hands in his.

I look him in the eye through my mascara-ed lashes. "....I'm nervous."

"I know you are. But please, baby, you don't have to be. Everything's going to be fine. You are so fucking beautiful and I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Edward. but...what was I thinking showing my face here? ...I...this...it's not..." I lower my gaze to admire his long fingers.

"Bellabellabella, look at me," he lifts my chin and his face falls when he sees the saddened expression on mine. "Oh god, my love. You'll never know how special you are to me. Your face," he closes his eyes and kisses me sweetly on the lips. "It belongs here," he continues. "You were meant to walk these halls, Isabella. You were meant to enter these rooms and be a part of these surroundings. But know this, my darling," he sighs and rests his forehead against mine. "nothing here is better than you. You are the finest attraction."

"Well well well. Isn't this a....pleasant surprise."

Our heads turn towards the source of the familiar raspy voice. My insides cringe before they land on her face and I hear Edward's reaction in my ear.

Fuck.

He stands at my side and drapes his arm around my shoulder, tracing his thumb over my collarbone.

I smile inwardly and step into his embrace as he clears his throat and speaks.

"Hello Victoria."

I've taken a few liberties with the description of the inside of the Four Seasons. Unfortunately, I've never had the occasion to go there. *grumble*

This is obviously just the beginning of the evening. More to follow soon! Pls review if you like where this is going and even if you don't!

oh and I didn't spell check this guy. sry.